OAKLAND -- It is better to win than lose, to be cheered than booed, and to be Joe Lacob now than to be Joe Lacob nine months ago.

Of course, he's the same confident, detail-driven Warriors co-owner he has always been since he put together the group to buy this team.

But the greatest credit I can give Lacob is that he sounds exactly the same now as he did last March in the minutes after Warriors fans infamously pelted him with catcalls.

This is a particularly golden moment for the Warriors and Lacob's ownership tenure, a tangible "turn the corner" period, in Lacob's words.

And I'm the one who -- randomly, planned a few weeks ago -- picked the positive timing of our interview Tuesday afternoon at a Menlo Park restaurant.

So Lacob could have luxuriated in the Warriors' success and tried to ignore or delete the derision from the Chris Mullin halftime ceremony nine months ago.

But instead, it was Lacob who brought up the booing and it was Lacob who agreed that you could connect those events to what's happening now.

"Hopefully they'll love this ownership when they win," Lacob said with a laugh and a shrug of Warriors fans and his ownership group.

"But I'm not in it to be loved. We're not in it to be loved. We're in it to achieve something, which is to turn this franchise around, make it a winner ...

"We're starting to turn the corner, feeling pretty good about it. I do know at the end of the day, wins and losses matter. It is sports.

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"And I don't think I'll be booed if we win a title."

The connection is real: The Mullin ceremony came right after the Warriors traded fan-favorite Monta Ellis in a package that included the Warriors receiving Andrew Bogut.

And while Lacob on Tuesday acknowledged that Bogut's continued injury woes don't shine a great light on the deal, he said that the trade set up the framework for victories.

It balanced the roster, freed Stephen Curry to take over the reins, and now the team waits for Bogut to get back on the floor.

"I think we just viewed it as something we had to do, and got booed by 20,000 people, partially for that (trade), probably," Lacob said.

"I think it was a good trade for us and I think it set the course for what we're now doing."

There's a further echo to recent Warriors debacles:

In 2000, then-owner Chris Cohan was booed during the All-Star game in Oakland, and virtually disappeared from sight for the final nine years of his Warriors ownership.

Lacob, like him or not, sure hasn't gone into hiding. He says he's curtailing his public profile this season, but he's still the guy in charge and happy to communicate that.

Is he surprised the team has taken off this quickly?

"To be 16-8? Yes," Lacob said hours before the Warriors' game against New Orleans. "I think our goal from the beginning of the year was to get to .500, stay around .500 -- especially with Bogut out.

"We knew the schedule would be tough early. ... So if we could just hang tough and stay within contention, I felt like we could make a run at the end and be a playoff team.

"I am a little surprised that we're this good this early; this consistent, this tough."

But Lacob was also sure to point out that the season is only 30 percent done, and that nobody can or will celebrate anything in December.

Still, Lacob credited coach Mark Jackson for giving the team structure, general manager Bob Myers' front office for building the depth, and the entire roster for adapting a blue-collar sensibility.

Lacob especially pointed to the leadership qualities of Stephen Curry and David Lee, two of his favorite players showing why they're his favorites this season.

One giant measure of Lacob's satisfaction: In every other conversation we've had, Lacob always stressed the need to make big moves to upgrade the talent; on Tuesday, he backed away from the hyper-aggression.

"We're pretty good right now," Lacob said. "Even though I would agree that we're not a team that has a superstar, we have a team with some really good players.

"We have a deep team, which is what we built this year, that was what we had the ability to do. A lot of youth mixed with veterans. The right coaching staff.

"I think we're doing pretty well."

And does Lacob find himself walking around with a big grin these days? Is he enjoying every moment of this?

"We have a long way to go," Lacob said. "And we all know how these things can go one way or the other. I enjoy it, but not that much. Not until the end of the season, when we can look back and say this is what we achieved and didn't achieve.

"Then I can reflect. Right now, no time to reflect."

He keeps going, through boos and cheers. He keeps moving. He keeps pushing. After a few years of his ownership, the Warriors team itself finally is doing the same.